Journey to Orthognathic Surgery: First post-op update!

Hi guys! Sorry I didn't get to updating sooner. I've just been so tired and became a bit nauseated when reading/writing. So I had my surgery (upper, lower, genioplasty) on Friday morning starting at about 8:30 am. I finished at about 2:30 pm. It went really well, minimal bleeding, and my doctor even decided to give me a bone graft on my palette (freeze-dry, apparently) to facilitate the healing process. I spent two nights in the hospital and came home Sunday afternoon. I've had hardly any pain, thanks to the morphine while in the hospital. I have two thin splints wired onto my top and bottom teeth as well as my top and bottom teeth wired to each other..so I'm pretty firmly shut. I've been wearing a "jaw bra" around my head that my doctor wants me to wear for a week - it's kept the swelling down for the most part except my lips are HUGE. I wore ice packs around my face for about the first 48 hours, I don't know if they helped much, but it definitely felt heavy so I'm glad to be done with those.

Post-op recovery has not been as bad as I thought, at least so far. The first two days after surgery I had a good amount of blood that dribbled from my nose which was a bit bothersome, but then that dried up in my nose and made it hard for me to breathe even though I used a breathing mask in the hospital and a humidifier at home as well as a few different nasal sprays. Most of the gunk in nose is gone now, though so that's a relief. I also had a very sore throat from the breathing tube they inserted during surgery...still doesn't feel 100%. My other biggest complaint is the oral pain medications I was prescribed - it's disgusting, makes me want to throw up which would not be good at all. I'm to the point now where I can barely tolerate it, but it's definitely made me debate whether I should even take it, but I'm a little scared of the pain I might have. It is quite hard to speak and be understood, but I expected that. Eating was quite difficult at first, but it's getting a little easier. I've been using a syringe that I stick on the side of my mouth and push the "food" in there, but it really has to be liquid thin consistency.

I've lost about six pounds already, my doctor said if I lose more than 15, then it's feeding tube time - which he hasn't had to do ever before. I'm hoping I won't be the first. I'm already getting tired of chicken broth and ensure, but there's really not many choices while I'm wired shut. I see my doctor next on Thursday to check in and then again on Friday, July 2nd - when my wires are removed and I will have rubber bands instead. My biggest concern now is keeping my mouth clean - I use a prescribed mouth wash and a super soft toothbrush on the front of my teeth but it never seems enough. My doctor said he expects my braces to be "sparkling" when he sees me on Thursday, which will be quite the task I think. Any tips?

Overall, even though it's been hard at times, I have no regrets and am really happy that the worst (I hope?) is over. I've been up and walking around my house, can't imagine going out in public quite yet, but we'll see..maybe I'll take a stroll around my neighborhood tomorrow. The only problem is the pain medications makes me quite drowsy. I look forward to recovering and seeing the final results when the swelling diminishes. I'll keep updating as much as I can, probably after my next appointment.

P.S. Please pardon grammatical errors and punctutation.

I've included a few photos: